Contract

Contract

After Li Xuelian explained Zhang Yu's situation, a soft chuckle came from the other end of the phone.

"Not bad indeed, but there's no need to take him on."

Li Xuelian asked in confusion, "Why?"

Spark True Person burst into hearty laughter, his tone brimming with delight. "I've already found a true genius."

"He's also in his first year of high school, only fifteen years old, and he mastered the Heavenly Martial Heart Refinement Art in just half an hour."

"And he doesn't have a single contract on him yet."

At this point, Spark True Person could not help laughing loudly again.

Li Xuelian said in surprise, "There's actually such a freak?"

Spark True Person chuckled. "I told you long ago: Kunxu First Layer has never lacked geniuses. What it lacks are people willing to invest in them."

"You should know what kind of astonishing talents the top scorers in every subject of each Gaokao, as well as the overall top scorer, are."

"But Kunxu First Layer produces several geniuses like that every year, along with a whole group not much worse than them. Year after year, they spring up like leeks that can never be cut clean."

"There are simply too many geniuses. It was only that I never found them before and was always beaten to the punch by others. Now, at last, I got there first."

Li Xuelian glanced regretfully in Zhang Yu's direction and asked, "Won't you sign Zhang Yu as well while you're at it?"

Spark True Person said, "Forget it. From now on, our family's resources will all be invested in a true genius. There's no need to spread ourselves too thin."

Inside the Meeting Room beside the art exhibition.

Li Xuelian looked at Zhang Yu before her and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, classmate. My father has other important matters to attend to, so I'm afraid he won't be able to take you as his disciple for the time being."

She said with complete sincerity, "But you can use the Heavenly Martial Heart Refinement Art without worry from now on. I'll personally authorize a copy of its usage rights for you."

Li Xuelian's eyes were filled with admiration as she looked at Zhang Yu. "Lastly, in my personal capacity, I'd like to give you ten thousand yuan."

"Don't rush to refuse. This gift comes purely from my appreciation of your talent."

"I hope that the next time we meet, you'll already have been admitted to a prestigious university."

"Oh, right. The videos you recorded involve the distribution rights of the Heavenly Martial Heart Refinement Art as well, so you'll need to delete them..."

A moment later, as she watched Zhang Yu's departing figure, the smile on Li Xuelian's face gradually faded.

Although Spark True Person did not intend to accept him as a disciple, Li Xuelian had no intention of making an enemy of a young man with such considerable talent.

Whether it was the usage rights to the Heavenly Martial Heart Refinement Art or ten thousand yuan, neither was more than a casual gesture to her.

She had given out countless small gifts like these to young talents over the years, so many that she could no longer remember the number.

Most of them, however, had ultimately faded into the crowd and long since been forgotten by her.

After settling this matter, Li Xuelian met with several important guests, then could no longer wait to find her father.

She was simply far too curious about the Peerless Genius Spark True Person had mentioned.

On the other side, at the art exhibition that had not yet officially ended.

Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu, who had just walked out of the Meeting Room, and asked, "How was it? Did you turn down Spark True Person? Li Xuelian didn't make things difficult for you, did she?"

Remembering Li Xuelian's admiring expression, Zhang Yu shook his head. "She didn't make things difficult for me."

"Before I could even say anything, she rejected me first, saying Spark True Person had other matters to deal with..."

"Though she did give me an extra ten thousand yuan at the end."

Hearing Zhang Yu's account, Bai Zhenzhen curled her lips. "Standard excuse."

"Maybe after checking your records, she found you weren't actually that outstanding."

"Like how your Monthly Exam scores are usually too poor, you don't have a sterilization record, your muscles aren't built well enough, and you're buried in debt..."

Zhang Yu curled his lips as he listened to Bai Zhenzhen. "A-Zhen, you lost and still refuse to admit it, so now you're resorting to personal attacks?"

Seeing Zhang Yu's smug look, Bai Zhenzhen could not resist grabbing him by the shoulder and demanding, "Why the hell won't you tell me what cheat you used?"

"Tell me already! Did you borrow money to bribe the staff and comprehend the Martial Arts Diagram ahead of time?"

Looking at Bai Zhenzhen's ugly face twisted with jealousy, Zhang Yu let out a smug chuckle.

Keep going, A-Zhen. Watching the ugly faces of you weaklings after defeat is my greatest joy right now.

As the two spoke, Qian Shen walked over from nearby.

He stared solemnly at Zhang Yu and asked, "Do you deliberately score poorly on your usual exams?"

The Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram's trial had improved Qian Shen's tolerance for people with high scores.

But the thought that someone with low scores could perform even better than him left him utterly shocked.

When Zhang Yu shook his head in denial, Qian Shen said unwillingly, "Impossible. If you weren't deliberately scoring poorly, why are your talent and scores so mismatched?"

"Hm?" Zhang Yu thought for a moment and said, "An exam can't possibly fully display a person's potential, can it...?"

Qian Shen directly cut him off, saying excitedly, "Impossible! The Gaokao and the six major high school subjects were designed by the Ten Great Sects. They are a system specifically created to evaluate high school students, verified and adjusted by countless experts and powerhouses. They are already the best, most scientific, most immortal-cultivation-oriented system for judging a person!"

"Every subject and every point within them perfectly reflects the all-around gap between people, including superiority and inferiority of bloodlines, backwardness of regions, incomplete evolution..."

Watching Qian Shen's utterly serious expression, Zhang Yu realized he had misjudged him before.

You're not just a simple score discriminatior. You've evolved from score discrimination into bloodline discrimination, regional discrimination, and racial discrimination. You're a supporter of a score-based caste system now, aren't you?

In short, in Qian Shen's view, high scores meant you were awesome, elite, entitled to superiority and confidence; low scores meant you were useless trash.

This was the worldview he had built over many years. It was also the foundation of his confidence as a top student with high scores, and perhaps even the rule followed by all Key High Schools.

"Hmph. If you refuse to admit it, then forget it."

"But I'll report what happened here to the school. I hope you show your true abilities in the next Monthly Exam and stop getting incompletely evolved scores like 550."

As he watched Qian Shen leave, Zhang Yu felt as though he had been insulted, yet also as though he had not.

Bai Zhenzhen beside him nodded thoughtfully. "Among all that nonsense he said, there's one thing you really should pay attention to."

"The school will definitely learn about what happened here. When that happens, they may ask you to sign a contract."

"A contract?" Zhang Yu looked curiously at A-Zhen. He had vaguely heard of this before, but the details had always remained like flowers seen through mist.

Bai Zhenzhen explained, "You know not everyone in high school is as rich as Qian Shen's family."

"For many poor students with good grades and outstanding talent, they need someone to invest in them."

"And the school itself is one of those investors."

"Usually, after the start of the second year of high school, the school selects a group of outstanding students based on their first-year performance and grades, signs contracts with them, and invests money in them."

"Of course, a very small number of students are simply too exceptional and too dazzling. To prevent others from signing them first, the school discusses contracts with them while they're still in their first year."

At this point, Bai Zhenzhen puffed out her chest. "Like me."

Zhang Yu said, "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

Bai Zhenzhen rolled her eyes at him, seeming to say, Didn't you have any clue what kind of pathetic state you were in before?

Bai Zhenzhen said, "With your performance at the art exhibition, the school will definitely discuss a contract with you. As for whether you should sign it..."

Seeing the conflicted expression on Bai Zhenzhen's face, Zhang Yu asked, "Is deciding whether to sign really that difficult?"

Bai Zhenzhen sighed. "You can't exactly call it difficult. Actually, whether to sign is easy to decide based on a person's circumstances."

"But what's difficult is whether a person's understanding of themselves is right or wrong."

Bai Zhenzhen looked at Zhang Yu and asked seriously, "For example, what cheat did you use when comprehending the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram this time?"

But halfway through, Bai Zhenzhen waved her hand. "Forget it. Mothers and sons don't ask about cheats. You don't have to tell me."

"Anyway, if you're truly completely confident and have decided to aim for one of the Ten Great Top Universities, then don't sign this contract now."

"On the other hand, if you're not confident about getting into the Top Ten and only want to attend an ordinary university, then sign it directly as long as the contract isn't too exploitative."

Zhang Yu nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this and asked a few more questions about the school and the details of contracts.

After the two had talked for a while, someone else came to find Zhang Yu. It was a delicate and pretty girl.

"Hello, classmate. You were so cool just now. Can I add your contact information?"

Similar things had happened many times since Zhang Yu comprehended the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram. Even Lian Tianji from Ziyun High School had come to add his contact information.

Zhang Yu had gradually become accustomed to it. With an inward sigh, he added her.

"Heh heh, even beautiful girls are taking the initiative to contact me now?"

Zhang Yu asked, "Which school are you from, classmate?"

She replied, "I'm Wu Qingqing from Saintly Women's Academy, from the advanced class."

Zhang Yu's expression suddenly froze. In this world of Kunxu, someone who looked like a man might not be a man, but a student in the advanced class of a women's academy... had definitely once been a man.

Wu Qingqing seemed to notice the change in Zhang Yu's expression and smiled faintly. "Oh? Your way of thinking is pretty old-fashioned."

"Do you think our class is full of people who took advantage of things to get into a Key High School, while their actual grades are a complete mess?"

"I'm telling you, several of the top academic stars in our class are no worse than you. You'll find out at the next citywide unified exam."

Zhang Yu watched her departing figure speechlessly.

No, was that what I was thinking about?

Kunxu... even transgender people in this lousy place have to check whose scores are higher first, huh?

"Congratulations." Zhou Tianyi walked over from the side. "Did you sign a contract with a Golden Core True Person?"

Looking at Zhou Tianyi before him, Zhang Yu suddenly remembered that the other man seemed to have had almost no presence in front of the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram just now.

After that, Zhang Yu worked as a security guard while chatting briefly with guests he knew and guests he did not know.

Once his security work for the day was completely finished, his savings had increased by 1,600 yuan and 10,000 yuan, soaring to 13,300 yuan in one go.

After repaying the remaining 5,000 yuan of this month's loan, Zhang Yu's account balance fell to 8,300 yuan, but he no longer had to worry about debt collectors for the time being.

(End of chapter)